The G77 Summit press center in Havana, Cuba, September 13, 2023 (Cuban Foreign Ministry)

The upcoming Group of 77 and China Summit are poised to strengthen solidarity among Global South nations and facilitate collaborative responses to pressing challenges facing the developing world, analysts have said.

Li Xi, a special representative of President Xi Jinping, will participate in the summit held in Havana, Cuba, from Thursday to Saturday.

The member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and also the secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will be leading a delegation at the invitation of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the current chairman of the group.

The Group of 77, established in 1964, comprises over 130 developing countries from Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.

Analysts such as Zhou Taidong, Vice-President of the Center for International Knowledge on Development, highlight that China's high-level participation underscores its natural affiliation with the Global South and commitment to ongoing solidarity and development cooperation among developing nations.

Moreover, numerous experts and analysts have praised such a move by Beijing, saying it stresses the importance of South-South cooperation in addressing shared challenges such as climate change, infrastructure deficits, and food and energy crises.

Zhou Zhiwei, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Latin American Studies, believes the summit will enhance policy coordination among developing nations, ensuring global political stability while rejecting Cold War mentalities and bloc confrontations.

The choice of Cuba as the summit's location carries special significance, given the nation's historical experiences with Cold War mentality and economic sanctions. Overall, the Group of 77 and China Summit is expected to offer a platform for joint efforts to address pressing issues and promote cooperation among developing countries.

Despite its members' diverse cultures, geographies, and economies, the G77+China has consistently maintained multilateralism as a guiding principle for its South-South cooperation strategies. The G77+China has been a key player in addressing global development challenges, and Cuba, the current chair of the bloc, is committed to continuing this work.

Cuba has a long history of promoting South-South cooperation and is well-placed to lead the G77+China during this pivotal period. Cuba’s active role within the G77+China has underscored its commitment to equitable development among nations.

As part of its chairmanship, Cuba has put forth draft resolutions within the United Nations General Assembly, emphasizing the importance of a "New International Economic Order" and condemning "Unilateral Economic Measures as a Means of Political and Economic Coercion against Developing Countries."

The resolutions aim to strengthen the group's political coordination mechanisms and promote fair global economic practices, the website says.

The upcoming G77+China Summit in Havana will be an opportunity for member states to discuss the most pressing global challenges and explore how science, technology, and innovation can be used to overcome them.

Read next: G77; its history and legacy

The G77 came at the heels of the devastating aftermath of the Second World War. The Group served as a platform uniting developing nations.

One of the G77's early victories was securing a commitment from developed countries to allocate 0.75% of their gross national income as development assistance to developing nations, with a deadline set for 1972. Additionally, they pioneered structural adjustments in their own economies to facilitate increased imports from developing countries.

During the heyday of international economic cooperation under the United Nations, spanning from 1964 to the late 1970s, the G77 was an active and effective force. However, as the 1980s dawned and the United Nations faced a decline, the group's influence began to wane. This was attributed to a coordinated attack on the United Nations by major developed nations, undermining its role as a forum for meaningful negotiations.

Nonetheless, the G77 left a long-lasting mark on the world stage, reshaping international relations, fostering unity among developing nations, and driving critical changes in global economic policies. It played an instrumental role in shaping the international community's approach to economic cooperation and development.